Mirror, Mirror: Kagome
by Amarielah
Summary: In another world, a world where Japan is no longer Japan, Kagome Higurashi survives. For a while, at least. Oneshot.


Summary: In another world, a world where Japan is no longer Japan, Kagome Higurashi survives. For a while, at least.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass or Inuyasha.

A/N: The second in a series of What If? AUs about how various characters would have been affected had they lived in the reality of Code Geass.

**Mirror, Mirror: Kagome**

The Sunset Shrine had been destroyed during the invasion. Even now, Kagome could remember the smell of acrid smoke, the bite of pain as the pieces of shrapnel had imbedded themselves into her skin. Her grandfather and mother had been at the center of it all; she hadn't even been able to unearth their remains for burial.

Ash was all that remained.

It had been her birthday. That morning, her grandfather had given her a mummified kappa foot as a present, though that too had burned away to dust. She and Souta had only been spared because they had gone down into the well-house to get their cat. Just as Kagome had stooped down to pick the animal up, the explosions had begun, so loud that they made Kagome's ears ring.

Even now, the echoes haunted her.

_She and Souta run out, only to see their house half gone, with the other half engulfed in flames._ _Kagome's stomach churns--this is all strangely familiar, like she has seen it before in a nightmare. Suddenly, she is seized with a crushing terror, because she doesn't want to be burned alive, and she knows that if she stays it will_ _happen. She grabs Souta by the arm and runs. _

_She runs until she can see the rest of her home go up in flames. It may be her imagination, but she hears the voice of the Goshinboku--weeping. When she looks to Souta, however, she realizes that the cries belong to him. She crouches down and hugs him tight, feeling the wetness of his anguish soaking into her blouse. The scratches on her cheeks burn, but she does not cry._

_That comes later._

______

Everything was going wrong.

"Please, Souta--"

"Stop it, sis. I've made my choice."

Kagome felt tears running down her cheeks, warm and unwelcome. "But it's a stupid choice!" she yelled, hands shaking so hard that she couldn't even muster the strength to reach out to him. "If you go now you'll only get yourself killed!"

From the doorway, their visitor said, "We need every hand we can get, Higurashi-san. And your brother is talented with machines."

Kagome managed to glare at the other woman through her tears. "He's just a child."

"I'm not a child!" huffed Souta.

The woman's eyes softened, but her tone remained firm. "Maybe, before the occupation. But in this world, he is an adult. He has to be."

Kagome averted her eyes, attempting to wipe away the tears with her fingers. She said nothing, feeling powerless, knowing that she was ultimately unable to stop him.

"There's a car waiting outside for you, Souta-kun," said the woman, stepping aside to make way for him.

Souta nodded. Before he walked out the door, he turned around to look at Kagome. "Bye," he said, voice choked. "I...I love you, okay?"

Kagome swallowed hard. "I love you too."

He walked into the world outside of their shabby home, standing tall, but the woman lingered. "I know what it's like," she said.

Kagome was unable to say anything.

"I had a little brother, as well. But he's gone now. So...I understand."

Finally, Kagome managed, "He's all I have left." Her voice was so soft that she could barely hear herself.

The woman nodded, her ponytail bobbing in a cheerful manner that just didn't seem to fit with the crushing despair welling up inside Kagome's gut. "I'll watch out for him," said the woman solemnly. "I give you my word."

Kagome felt numb, all of a sudden--like she no longer had the ability to feel anything at all. "Get out," she said.

The woman complied, closing the door with a squeak of rusty joints. Kagome then sat down on one of the rickety chairs that Souta had managed to salvage from the wreckage of Kagome's old middle school.

She didn't move for a long while.

_____

It was the creaking of the door that finally made her aware of the world again. Footsteps fell heavily on the filthy concrete the constituted the floor, and a figure stopped in front of her. She didn't bother to look up.

"Rumor has it your little brother's joined the JLF," said a gruff, familiar voice. "Looks like they're true."

"Go away."

She felt hands grabbing her underneath each arm, and an incredible strength forcing her to stand. "Not happening." One of the hands held her steady, while the other came to rest beneath her chin, gently nudging it upward. "Come on, look at me."

She didn't have the will to resist, and found herself looking into a pair of concerned blue eyes. "There are people who are worse off than me. Sick people." she said. "You should be helping them, doctor."

"Yeah," he said. "I should be."

"Let me go," she pleaded, fresh tears stinging at her ears. "Please."

"That's not happening, either." He began to walk, tugging her along after him. "I'll carry you out of here if I have to."

She allowed herself to be lead.

"I'll get you to smile again, Kagome. You just have to trust me, okay?" He let go of her arm, only to interlace their fingers together. "I won't have you looking like you--like she used to."

The doctor did that sometimes--spoke as if he'd met her before, or somebody similar to her. It confused her, but, at that moment, it was strangely comforting. It made her feel at ease.

When they reached the clinic, he gave her a cup of tea, saying, "You're gonna have a bath after this. Can't have you stinking this place up." It earned him the barest hint of a smile.

She probably would never understand why the doctor was so kind to her, but she was grateful for it all the same.

____

"I've been alive a long time, fox. And humans? Never fucking change. It's depressing." He took a swig from his flask, and passed it to the young man--or at least the person who appeared to be a young man--sitting beside him.

"I can change the spell, if you want," he said, taking a swig of his own. "Make you look Britannian. It'd make life easier."

"Keh," spat the doctor. "I've been dealing with this shit since I was born. I'm used to it."

The young man gave him a sidelong glance. "...You really care about them, don't you?" He looked out to the crowds of milling people, all of them trying to make the most out of their ruined lives. "The humans, I mean."

"Yeah," said the doctor, his expression softening. "I guess I do."

The young man frowned. "I have the feeling that something real bad's gonna happen."

"Me too," said the doctor.

"But you're not gonna run away?"

At that, the doctor smirked. "Running's not my style."

The young man took another swig from the flask.

"I'll pray for you, then."

_____

In the end, Kagome resisted the temptation of Refrain, although there had been one day, after she had learned that Souta was comatose from receiving brain damage, that she had almost given in. Instead, she helped the doctor tend to patients. She learned how to administer drugs, change bandages, and disinfect wounds. In fact, she had a knack for it.

It was fitting, but especially tragic, because the clinic was one of the first buildings to be targeted in the Shinjuku Ghetto massacre.


End file.
